Dutch biologist Gerard Jagers op Akkerhuis has developed the ‘operator hierarchy’ — a system based on the complexity of particles and of organisms, which can predict the next step in evolution: a technical life form, that can pass on its knowledge and experience to the next generation.

Biologists’ take on the hierarchy of life has been pretty careless up to now. This hinders the discipline, says Gerard Jagers op Akkerhuis. And there is room for improvement: following lengthy research Jagers came up with a hierarchy that is not only more consistent but also includes the classification of inorganic natural matter.

Following after the ‘memons’, the multicellulars with a neural network, Jagers predicts that the next closure will lead to a life form in which the transfer of the blueprint by means of genes is replaced with the transfer of knowledge and collective experience by so-called ‘memes’.